This project has been a long time coming, and I’m proud today that we finally have a chance to give you a first look into our new game, The Order: 1886. This is the first original IP created by Ready At Dawn, and the game is targeted exclusively for the PlayStation 4.
The genesis of this project happened many years ago, but it was not until 2010, when hearing of the upcoming PS4, that we as a studio decided it was time for us to bring this IP to life. We saw that the platform could finally give us the potential needed to achieve the vision we had for this game.

With The Order: 1886, we introduce players to a unique vision of Victorian-era London, an alternate history where technological advances take center stage in a battle against a powerful and ancient foe. The game takes place nearly forty years after the Industrial Revolution. But unlike in real history, our Industrial Revolution stems from mankind’s desire to prevail in a centuries-old war. The advances in technology, invented by some of the foremost minds of the time, give man an opportunity to take the upper hand for the first time in their struggle.
In the game, you are a knight, a member of an ancient order, and you will take center stage in this fight for mankind’s survival. As the game takes place in an alternate history, you will be able to interact with real-world historical characters who will aid you in your quest. You will see and navigate real places. You will not only be a witness, but have a hand in real events that have unfolded.
Beyond story and setting, there are a select few key concepts to which we wanted to adhere when we created this title. One of these is the filmic aspect of the game. As we developed our visual target, we used aesthetics that have been present in cinematography for decades to achieve our goal; from lenses and lighting techniques to grading, we wanted to recreate a visual feel that would bring you closer to what you have only been able to experience in movies.
We also strived to create a seamless experience when it came to the game. The idea was to make sure that you never saw any visual discrepancies or breaks in continuity between gameplay and cinematic. Our game models and our cinematic models are one and the same, and everything is rendered real time in the engine as you play the game. The trailer we presented is a great example of that. What you saw is running in-engine, in-game with no gimmicks. These visuals are what you can expect of the final game when you play it.
Of course, there is a lot more to talk about, and this is only the start. There will be more to come in the near future, and the team at Ready At Dawn and I can’t wait to share more of the game with you.

Q:So, exactly what kind of game is The Order: 1886?A: The Order is a third person action adventure with shooting mechanics. It’s very much story-based – it’s a linear story-based game. We’re trying to tell a story. It’s what we call a filmic experience.

Q:It was really refreshing to see London being used as the setting for a video game. Why did you pick the British capital?A: For me, London is one of the greatest cities in the world. There’s a real diversity there. A lot of European cities have it but specifically London, as there are moments throughout history that have played out there. It has a very interesting history, particularly at the end of the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution. Because this game is based in the real world, we wanted to feed off that and use some of the events, the people and the stuff that existed in that time to accentuate and bring our IP into a world that is believable.

Q:Are Londoners going to recognize it as they city they live in today?A: Absolutely. Sure, I don’t think we’ll be able to do a 1:1 mapping of London. We tried! We started out by mapping the full city of London. But we’re going to try and stay as true as possible to it. You’ll recognize a lot of things.

There are obviously some things we’re going to put in there that don’t exist, and we’ve moved certain locations a bit, but as you can see from the trailer, when you pass in front of the Thames, Parliament is where it’s supposed to be and London Bridge is where it’s supposed to be. We don’t want people to go “Nah, this doesn’t look right”. You’ll be interacting with real people, real events and real places.

Q:PlayStation gamers will know Ready At Dawn best from your fantastic God of War games on PSP. What are you bringing over to The Order: 1886 from your experience on that franchise?A: I think what we’re bringing over is everything that we’ve learned over the past 10 years. This was always the goal when we started the company. We started with the mind-set that we’re going to build our own IP, but we didn’t want to be the guys who straight out of the gate went “We’re going to do everything all at once.” So we learned little by little – building technology, building expertise, getting the right team together. It really took us a long time to find exactly what we wanted.

We’ve done well on a single platform. We’ve tried to push the boundaries of what could be done. That’s the same mentality we’re bringing to PS4. We’re working on a single platform – we want to push it, we want to get everything out of it, and hopefully that’s exactly what we’re going to do – milk it for all it’s worth.

Q:What aspect of the game do you think will make gamers say “Woah, that’s new, I’ve never seen that before”?A: There are gameplay features we’ll be talking about that will be very, very cool. Right now we’re playing with things – the moment-to-moment gameplay is really not what you might expect. We didn’t want to make it single-tone, where you rely on one single thing in expense of the rest.

The overall feel – that filmic experience… the one thing we brought to this is something people are accustomed too but usually can’t tell. When you watch a movie you don’t question what lens is being used. You don’t question why there is grain on the film or why there’s a certain lighting. Those are things we’ve been accustomed to seeing for 30 years. So when it’s missing we usually go “Wait, something is wrong with this image”.

With this game we replicated a lot of physical attributes. We have true lens distortion. We built physical lenses into our engine so we could get something where people will look it and not be totally disconnected. Games have a tendency sometimes to be too clean and crisp. We thrive in the dirt. We just love the fact that it feels dirty. It’s filmed in a very realistic way.

Q:It’s a good fit – London can be pretty filthy!A: That’s exactly right, and that’s why we chose it I think.

Q:You’re working on a huge new IP on a huge new platform. How are you coping with the pressure?A: Yeah, it’s tough. Anybody would be lying if they said it wasn’t. It’s a lot of pressure and there are a lot of unknowns. You make a lot of bets at the beginning because you don’t know how things are going to be two years down the line. The good thing for us is that we didn’t have to bring a lot of legacy over, and because of that we’ve made a lot of bets that luckily for us turned out really well. But yes, the pressure is always on. It seems that there’s a lot of expectation now and there will be more after E3. So all we have to do now is finish it!

Back to the workhouse Ready at Dawn’s upcoming alternate-history PlayStation 4 exclusive The Order: 1886 is already shaping up to be one of the prettiest titles in the next generation platform’s pipeline, but it’s not being constructed by an enormous team. While it’s normal for franchises such as Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty to command headcounts of up to 500 employees these days, a modest number of around 80 developers are working on the London-set adventure.
The snippet was revealed as part of a technical presentation anchored by the Californian studio at computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH. While the gubbins of the appearance delve pretty deeply into the nitty-gritty of the title’s visual performance, the firm did release a video showing off its textile scanning process. We’ve embedded that below in case you’re curious. You can also peruse the studio's full Powerpoint document through here, but be warned: it features mathematics equations in places. Urgh.

Written by: Tom Morrison / 21 August 2013 / 14 Comments
This morning El33tonline was lucky enough to attend a gamescom session for Ready at Dawn’s upcoming PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886. The session was hosted by the studio’s CEO and Creative Director, Ru Weerasuriya, who previously directed the smash hit God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP.
Ru spent most of the session talking about how The Order: 1886 uses a revolutionary physics system which allows individual objects and its constituent materials to be realistically broken up or deformed ad infinitum. During his presentation the audience was treated to two live prototype gameplay demonstrations (running on a PC with PS4-approximate specs) showing these features in action, and also demonstrating how objects in the environment such as flags are affected by the physical forces associated with a particular environment (in this case wind). Each of the three flags we saw in the second demo fluttered independently of each other, seemingly affected by their position in relation to the wind.
Whereas most games don’t feature deforming materials, Ready at Dawn is determined to create a true next-gen experience by allowing players to interact with the game’s environments in unprecedented ways using the various weapons you’ll be able to equip over the course of your adventure. During the first demo we saw how throwing a grenade into a wooden box blows it into tiny splinters. If you throw another grenade into the newly formed mass of splinters then the resulting explosion will blow them into even smaller fragments. The effect really is astonishingly realistic!
In the second demo Ru demonstrated how objects in The Order: 1886 will deform according to what material they’re made out of. For example, a copper bucket or metallic wall will visibly dent when shot, while a teddy bear (dumped onto the level for the purpose of this demo) will break up into separate pieces when the same treatment is handed out. Obviously, the type of gun and ammunition being used will also influence how materials in the game react based on the real-world laws of physics which govern them. Based on what we saw in the two live gameplay demonstrations, The Order: 1886 will be a cover-based shooter with an over-the-shoulder camera perspective in the style of Resident Evil 4 or Gears of War.
The game will be released exclusively for PS4 sometime during 2014. Head over here for El33tonline’s previous coverage of this ambitious next-gen project from one of the PSP’s finest developers.

When creating our alternate history in The Order: 1886, our goal was to make the environment as believable as possible while at the same time adding our own twist to real places. With the release of our trailer back at E3, we hinted at our vision of an alternate London.

This Neo-Victorian London will seem familiar to everyone, however, advances in technology will take center stage in many ways as you navigate the city. One of the main examples is the advent of electricity throughout the city, well before its time. Gas lamps are replaced by electric street lights. Everywhere you go, you can hear the hum of electricity running through the city.

The London subway system is present in our version of the world, but it’s much more advanced than it was in real life. Certain sections of the subway system run above ground in between buildings throughout the city. Electric signs line the streets making some areas of London almost look like Times Square.

The other big change you will witness is in the skyline of London. Although the familiar sights of Big Ben, St. Paul’s, and the Tower Bridge are present, the skyline is broken up by watch towers. Their searchlights are constantly scanning the city and the skies. The other change in the skyline is the presence of airship mooring towers. In The Order: 1886, London is patrolled day and night by a squadron of dirigibles called the Sentinels. All of these are a constant reminder that the world is not as it seems.

These changes are the result of our Industrial Revolution, mankind’s chance to take the upper hand in a centuries-old war. Mankind now has access to advanced weapons, one of which you saw in the trailer — a rifle that can fire electricity.

Communicators give you the ability to converse with the rest of your squad. A thermite gun allows you to shoot a cloud of inflammable thermite that can be ignited by a flame or by shooting a flare into it. In contrast to these advanced weapons, you’ll still be able to use more traditional black powder guns. These give a sense of realism and believability to the world and make the atmosphere feel dirty and palpable, reminiscent of the way we’re used to viewing the real, post-Industrial Revolution Europe.

The team will be sharing more information about the game in the months to come.

New storyline details have emerged for Ready At Dawn's next-gen debut, The Order: 1886, that outline the game's blend of horror and historical fiction.

The Order: 1886 puts players into the formfitting armored boots of one of the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur's legendary 5th century order, according to the latest issue of GameInformer. In Ready At Dawn's fiction, human evolution has splintered and "half-breeds" have threatened the world's pure population. Thanks to the industrial revolution, The Order is finally equipped to put an end to the long-standing war between humans and half-breeds and the group sets out on a quest to put a stop to the half-breed's tyranny.

"The game itself is a mix of all these moments that basically take you on a ride of adventure, suspense and horror," The Order: 1886 Creative Director Ru Weerasuriya said in a video interview with GameInformer. The third-person action-shooter is in development for the PlayStation 4 and, despite the developer's moniker, no release date has been solidified.

We revealed in our cover story on The Order: 1886 that developer Ready At Dawn is fusing Arthurian lore with an alternate view of 1886 London. The group we call the Knights of the Round Table is referred to in this new game as The Order – a force of dedicated individuals founded by King Arthur centuries ago to confront horrifying half-breed creatures. In the year 1886, Sir Galahad is one of the most respected knights in The Order, but he needs all the help he can get fighting the rebels and other threats lurking among London. These are three of Galahad’s most trusted allies in his battles throughout much of the game.

Name: Isabeau D’Argyll
Alias: Lady Igraine
If you’ve read tales about King Arthur, you may remember his mother was named Lady Igraine. In The Order: 1886, Lady Igraine is a youthful-looking warrior named Isabeau D’Argyll. She and Galahad have a close but guarded relationship which started with her as his knight in training. Over the years the two become fond of one another, though their allegiance to The Order forbids them from ever acting on any underlying feelings. Isabeau’s character extends beyond her relationship with Galahad, however. She is strong-willed, skilled in combat, and fiercely loyal to The Order. “Isabeau is every bit the knight that Galahad is,” says Ru Weerasuriya, creative director on The Order: 1886. “There’s this kind of rivalry between them.”

Name: Sebastian Malory
Alias: Sir Percival
In Ready At Dawn’s story, the title of Sir Percival belongs to a man named Sebastian Malory. Enthusiasts of Arthurian lore may recall that Sir Thomas Malory is the 15th century author of the original Le Morte d’Arthur. In The Order, the gray-bearded Malory is the most seasoned warrior in Galahad’s squad. Malory acts as a trustworthy mentor to Galahad and personifies The Order’s noble agenda to protect the people of London. Malory and Galahad share joint tempered loyalty to The Order, and are close friends because of it.

Name: Marquis de Lafayette
Alias: Pending
Lafayette is The Order’s newest knight-in-training, but he’s no green recruit. The famed Marquis de Lafayette is an actual historic figure who made his name fighting in both the French and American Revolutions. The Order contacts Lafayette and opens his eyes to the larger scale conflict the organization was formed to fight. His strategic expertise and knowledge of the battlefield makes him an invaluable addition to Galahad’s squad, even if he hasn’t earned his knightly name yet. This apprentice has a brash, whimsical sense of humor that lightens the squad’s oftentimes grim demeanor.

Check back later this month for a deeper look into the final knight in the squad and the main character of The Order – Sir Galahad.

Beyond that, we also tried to make the moment-to-moment gameplay different. We didn’t want it to be a grind for 40-45 minutes because you’re in shooting mode. Everything in the game happens in little bursts, and that really makes you not dwell too much on one thing that might otherwise bore you

He then explained that The Order 1886 will have a healthy mixture of shooting and melee systems when it comes to combat, unlike most third person shooters.

Rather than just making a third person game, we took it upon ourselves to figure out why we like them. Not everybody likes third person shooters for the same exact reason, so we tried to figure out what the core elements were [that] we wanted to keep, and also add that element of what we’ve done in the past – for example, melee.

Shooters have a tendency to be very light or canned on melee. We wanted to find new ways of introducing it that would keep you feeling you were in a shooter that’s evolved into something else, rather than been segmented. It started with us trying to figure out how we balance the two, shooter and melee, but then it evolved into us making this shooter with different melee systems.

It’s understandable, since Ready at Dawn has under its belt games like God of War: Chains of Olympus and the sequel Ghost of Sparta (both released for the PSP). The Order 1886 is expected to hit PlayStation 4 in 2014 and it shouldn’t be long until we get to see some real gameplay; as always, stay tuned on Worlds Factory.

Today Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and Asia released not only a version of the cinematic trailer of The Order: 1886 voice acted in Japanese, but also a new background summary that includes a few new details about the story behind the game. Below you can find a full translation.It is said that everything began around the 7th or 8th century.Suddenly mutations appeared in the human genetic code. While the change wasn’t immediately visible, some began to show traits similar to beasts. This turned them into a species different from humanity, and marked the birth of the half-breed (half man, half beast).Over time the people started to call the half-breed with the names of the monsters of legend. Conflict and confrontation against the monster has upset the history of manking.Although mankind had the advantage in sheer numbers, it was inferior to the half breed because of their resilience and ovrwhelming regenerative powers.At last, after a few centuries passed, humanity is presented with a chance to retaliate. Brave men and women viwed to devote their life to the war against the half-breed and became knights. Those knights were named “the Order”Since then, over the centuries, many knights lost their lives in battle, but the Order never perished.If a knight is killed, a new successor to his name appears, and throws himself into battle on behalf of Humanity.In the London of 19th Century the conflict between mankind and the half-breed continued, even in the terrible district of Whitechapel, one of the many districts that will be remembered by the posterity. This area has become a major turning point in the battle over the years.The development of science and the industrial revolution has become a mighty assets for the human race.Enormous airships patrol the sky of london, and at times they are at anchor at enormous mooring towers to monitor the city center. The railway powered by electricity has become the blood flow of the city, connecting each district. With their technology humanity has the advantage over the half-breed for the first time.In this time, when the threat of the half-breed begins to decline, a new threat attacks the knights: A full-scale insurrection in the British Empire. Suffering the poverty brought by the industrial revolution and the disparity between classes, angry citizens take arms and rebel.And there’s more than those two “enemies” to cause trouble for the knights…
The more I hear about Ready at Dawn’s upcoming game, the more I find it interesting. Not only its graphics look really top-notch from what we’ve seen so far, but the story behind it seems really deep, not to mention the fact that I love Arthurian lore and legends. Hopefully we’ll see a full gameplay reveal soon enough.

2014 is a huge year for Ready at Dawn. They’re poised to ship one of PS4‘s most anticipated titles with The Order: 1886. An inquisitive NeoGAF user poked around Sony Santa Monica‘s refreshed website (they’re aiding in development) and found a couple brand new screenshots of the project. These two new screens showcase the core group of protagonists, called the Knights of the Round Table, and their steampunk arsenal. There’s also a great action shot of the team in the midst of a firefight.
Hopefully we see more of the title in the near future. It sits on the top of many “most anticipated” lists for 2014. The game is tentatively set for a Q3 2014 release, but that’s far from confirmed.